Hiroki Shinohara
Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, Earth[http://yamato2199.net/character_sinohara.html Official Space Battleship Yamato 2199 website character data] | death_place = | placeofburial = | placeofburial_label = | placeofburial_coordinates = | nickname = | birth_name = | allegiance = Earth Federation | branch = United Nations Cosmo Navy | serviceyears= | rank= Ensign | servicenumber = | unit = | commands= | battles= Second Battle of Pluto, Raid on Balun, Battle of the Rainbow Star Cluster, Battle of Garmillas, Battle of Shambleau, Battle of the Galactic Theater Gate | battles_label = | awards= |relations= |laterwork= |portrayedby=Daisuke Hirakawa (2012-) }} Ensign Hiroki Shinohara is a United Nations Cosmo Navy pilot serving as second in command of the battleship Yamato's fighter squadron. History Early Life Shinohara grew up with a father who was frequently dissatisfied and angry with him. However, after his father's death early in the planet bombing siege of Earth, Shinohara's hatred for him faded and he eventually came to miss him ("Farewell to the Solar System"). As a younger fighter pilot in the 343rd Squadron, he flew with Akio Yamamoto, the elder brother of his future fellow Yamato crew member, Akira Yamamoto ("Over the Black Light", "They're Coming!"). Voyage to Iscandar Aboard Yamato, Shinohara is assigned to Cosmo Falcon number 107, custom painted with a shark's mouth[http://ourstarblazers.com/vault/434/ Space Battleship Yamato 2199, Report 10, July 4, 2013]. Operation M-2 is his first opportunity for combat after the launch of Yamato, where he joins squadron leader Saburo Kato and others in an advance raid on the Garmillas operating base on Pluto ("The Trap on All Sides"). Shinohara also takes on at least one routine scouting assignment, piloting a Type-100 Space Reconnaissance Plane with Ensign Akira Yamamoto as co-pilot. The two are nearly killed during a mishap upon returning to Yamato, but unlike the furious Yamamoto, Shinohara quietly listens to the deck crew's explanation, and quickly accepts the apology of chief Isami Enomoto ("Clockwork Prisoner"). Several months later, Shinohara volunteers for a much more dangerous reconnaissance mission: taking a captured Garmillas Czvarke fighter into the newly discovered Aquarius gate subspace corridor network and investigating enemy activity at the network hub, Balun. He chooses the designation "Sword 3" in honor of Yamamoto's deceased elder brother. Upon arriving at Balun, Shinohara is able to collect ample data, but his activities soon draw the suspicious attention of other Garmillas fighters. He turns and makes a run for it, but his ship takes damage just before it enters the gate leading back to Yamato ("Over the Black Light"). Seriously injured, Shinohara spends the next several weeks recuperating, and remains aboard Yamato during the critical Battle of the Rainbow Star Cluster. Despite being out of the cockpit, he is healed enough to fight alongside Lieutenant Susumu Kodai and a security team when Garmillas soldiers attempt to board the ship and kidnap a senior crew member ("Under a Rainbow Sun"). In time, he makes a full recovery and flies with the squadron against Garmillas Imperial Guard fighters and carriers during the Battle of Garmillas ("The Planet That We Head For", "One Man's War"). During the return voyage to Earth, Shinohara flies alongside allied Garmillas fighters against a Gatlantis fleet invading the planet Shambleau (Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark). About one month later, he once again encounters battle aboard Yamato itself when a battalion of Garmilloid robot soldiers penetrates the vessel's defenses and attempts to seize control. He and Yamamoto use a heavy machine gun from a partially disassembled fighter to briefly fight back the invaders. Their success is short-lived, though, and the better prepared Garmilloid troops push deeper into the ship ("The Forever War"). Personality Shinohara is friendly and even-tempered, despite the experience of his early life. He generally accepts unexpected developments in an open-minded manner, and responds to adversity calmly. He follows a philosophy of treating those around him with care in order to achieve good results, a practice that he extends even to computers ("The Trap on All Sides", "Clockwork Prisoner") He works well with his immediate superior, Kato, and gives him personal advice ("Farewell to the Solar System"). However, his closest relationship on the mission to Iscandar is with Yamamoto. Shinohara welcomes her into the fighter squadron in a more professionally appropriate manner than his colleagues. The two are able to comfortably open up to one another about their personal lives, and they share prayers for their fallen comrades ("Over the Black Light", "The Forever War"). He keeps any feelings of attraction he has for Yamamoto hidden or expressed indirectly until a wedding reception late in the mission, where he tries--and fails--to embrace her ("Memories of the Blue Planet"). As a pilot and soldier, Shinohara is not fearful of combat, and is ready to place himself in harm's way ("Over the Black Light", "Under a Rainbow Sun", "The Forever War"). However, he is hesitant about high diving ("The Distant Promised Land"). References Category:Male Characters Category:Yamato Crew Category:Humans